One of my favorite cookbooks that I have is called The Skinny Taste, by Gina Homolka. Gina has put together an amazing book of recipes that are delicious, but have a healthy spin on them. A lot of what I cook each week has come from this book. She has baked "fried" chicken, delicious pasta dishes, and our new favorite, these guiltless applesauce and chocolate chip pancakes.

​Jordan and I decided to make these this past weekend and I'm so glad we did! We canned applesauce a few months ago, so we figured they would be super good with our homemade applesauce. Luckily we still had a jar leftover. Canned applesauce and peaches tend to be eaten very quickly in our household. Enjoy!

DirectionsIn a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, combine the applesauce, almond milk, egg whites, oil and vanilla. Stir the flour mixture into the applesauce mixture until just moist, being careful not to overmix.

Heat a large nonstick griddle over medium-low heat. When hot, lightly spray the pan with oil. Scoop out 1/4 cup of pancake batter for each pancake, then sprinkle 1 teaspoon of chocolate chips on top. Cook until the pancakes start to bubble and the edges begin to set, 1 1/2 minutes. Flip the pancakes over and cook the second side until golden, 1 1/2 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter.​Top with honey or maple syrup (if using). Enjoy!Recipe by The Skinny Taste

Wow... it has been a long time since I have posted! So much has been going on: getting pregnant (we're having a baby boy!), moving across the country, new jobs, etc... All of these changes have led to a busy past few months. Now that we are all settled in our new home, I am excited to get back to sharing delicious recipes with ya'll!

Here in Ohio, strawberry picking has just begun. This pregnancy has me craving fresh fruit constantly, which I'm definitely not complaining about, so I am excited for the summer fruit picking to begin! Going strawberry picking as kids was always so much fun, although I'm sure we weren't actually the most productive helpers. We probably ate more strawberries than we picked!

In honor of strawberry season beginning here, I decided to make strawberry scones. These scones are a little piece of heaven, and you will probably, no definitely, end up eating more than just one. Jordan and I polished off all eight of these in two days, and that was with some serious efforts to control ourselves and save some for later! Enjoy!​Thank you to Erica, my wonderful sister-in-law, for sharing this recipe with me from themerchantbaker.com.

Cut in butter until the mixture is crumbly and you have butter chunks no larger than peas in your mixture.

Add in the chopped strawberries and lightly toss in the flour mixture until berries are coated.

In a glass measuring cup, crack the egg and then add heavy cream until you reach 3/4 cup. Mix with a fork until well blended.

In the center of the flour mixture, make and well and pour in the egg/cream mixture. Distribute the mixture with a fork until it all begins to hold together a bit. Try to avoid crushing the strawberries as best as you can!

Once the dough has come together, lightly flour your surface, and pat into a large square or circle, about 1 inch thick.

If your dough has gotten too soft from handling, put the bowl of dough back in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes.

Once you have pat down dough into the shape you want, use a floured sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles or your desired scone shape. Then, leaving 1-2 inches of space between each scone, place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Brush the tops of unbaked scones with additional cream.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-18 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet to let them set up. Then remove and let them finish cooling on a rack.

While scones finish cooling, make icing. Whisk together vanilla, sugar, and add cream a tablespoon at a time until it is thick, but spreadable.

Drizzle icing over cooled scones. Enjoy!!

*Store at room temperature, covered. I put mine in a plastic bag. You can also wrap in foil if you'd like!*

It is officially fall which means new fruits are in season! Although I am terribly sad that peach season is over, I am excited to embrace new recipes for apples and pears. I'll be honest and say that I have never cooked anything with pears before. I usually just eat them as they are or I dice them and mix them in with pomegranate (super yummy snack by the way!). I bought some pears the other day and Jordan and I have been trying to eat them fast because they turned ripe so quickly. For fear of not being able to eat them all in time (thank you Costco) I decided to try out a new recipe today!

​I found this recipe on Williams-Sonoma's website and decided to try it because it looked so simple and delicious. Next time you're wanting to spice up your breakfast, try out this recipe! You won't regret it. Enjoy!

Melt two tablespoons of the butter in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Add the pears and brown sugar and cook until slightly crisp/tender for about four to five minutes, turning as needed. Sprinkle evenly with lemon juice and cinnamon. Stir to combine. Once evenly combined, add the remaining two tablespoons of butter and swirl around in pan until pan is coated with butter, including the sides.

Whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla in a small bowl. Combine salt and flour in another small bowl and sift over egg mixture. Whisk until blended. Pour the batter over the hot fruit and bake until golden and puffed, 20-25 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve for breakfast or dessert! Enjoy!

Mmm belgian waffles. Don't worry, we aren't talking about the type of belgian waffles that you get at a hotel buffet...We are talking about true Belgian liege waffles! These waffles are special. Why you ask? Because they use a special type of sugar and are a lot more dense, in the best way of course, than a normal fluffy waffle. Jordan and I first discovered liege waffles a few years ago at this little restaurant in Utah called Waffle Love. Waffle Love introduced us to the magic that is liege waffles and we loved them so much that we set out to make our own! We researched, bought pearl sugar online, and tried multiple recipes that claimed to be the real deal. After several attempts at these waffles, we finally found a recipe that we feel is the closest to true liege waffles!

Seeing as it was General Conference this past weekend, Jordan and I have a tradition of making these waffles every Sunday morning for conference. We have done it the past two years and always look forward to it! These waffles do take some time and effort the day before you make them, but it is completely worth it, and if you're like me it makes them taste so much better (although I don't know if that's possible)! Enjoy!

Directions1. Place yeast, milk, and water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Give it a quick stir to moisten the yeast.

2. Add the egg and 2/3 of a cup of the flour. Mix to blend. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

3. Next, sprinkle the remaining 1 and 1/3 cups of flour over the mixture, but DO NOT stir it in. Cover and let stand 75-90 minutes. Once the time if over, you will see that the batter has started to bubble up through the flour.

4. Add the brown sugar and salt to the workbowl with the other ingredients. Mix on low speed to blend.

5. With machine on low, add honey and vanilla. Then add 2 Tbsp. of room temperature butter at a time. Mix 4 minutes at medium-low speed; scrape down sides once or twice in that period. Let the dough rest for 1 minute and then continue to mix for 2 minutes. If you measured your ingredients perfectly, the dough will be sticking to the sides of the bowl in the last minute of mixing and then, in the last 30 seconds of so, will start to ball-up on the paddle. If this does not happen, let the dough rest for 1 more minute and mix for another 2 minutes. This should yield a slightly sticky dough.

6. Scrape the dough into a large bowl, sprinkle lightly with flour, cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 4 hours. This is where all of the yummy flavor develops :)

7. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes before moving on the #8. This is an important step that you don't want to skip! It slows down the yeast.

8. Gently deflate the gases from the dough, by pressing on it with a rubber spatula and scrape it onto a piece of plastic wrap, and then use the spatula to press the dough into a long rectangle. Fold that rectangle over on itself (by thirds – like a letter) so that you have a square of dough. Wrap it in plastic, weigh it down a bit (I put two heavy dinner plates on top of it) and refrigerate OVERNIGHT.

9. The next day, place the cold dough (it will be quite firm) in a large bowl and add all of the pearl sugar to a bowl. It will seem like a lot of sugar, but it’s supposed to be :) Mix it into the dough by hand until the chunks are evenly distributed. Once mixed, divide the dough into 5 pieces of equal size.

10. Shape each chunk into an oval ball (like a football without the pointy ends) and let it rise (covered loosely in plastic wrap) for 90 minutes. If you accidently skip this step, it is ok, the waffles just aren't quite as chewy as they would be, however, they are still delicious :)

11. Spray your waffle iron with cooking spray and place dough in the center of the iron. Let it cook for about 2 minutes. As you continue on with each waffle, the pearl sugar that sticks to the waffle iron does start to burn a little, so feel free to clean it our if you'd like!

I went to Costco this weekend, and like I always do, started smelling all of the fruit. This may sound a wee bit strange to you, and even stranger for those watching me, but you can really tell if a fruit is ripe by the smell of it! Sure you can squeeze it, but I like to smell mine. I don't just smell one box or bag, I smell multiple. It's a science. I'll gladly take all the funny stares over dry, juiceless fruit anyday. There is nothing more disappointing than buying a bag of oranges and having them all dried up on the inside, or worse having that dusty, dull taste! If it smells like it is fresh from the farm then get it! I had that "fresh from the farm" moment when I smelled these strawberries on Friday. I instantly had flashbacks of picking strawberries at a farm down the road from my grandparents house every April and May. I immediately put them in my cart, no questions asked.

Now that I had this huge amount of strawberries (you know Costco and their bulk), I had to do something with them that way they wouldn't go bad before we could eat all of them. I decided to try out this healthy whole wheat strawberry scone recipe. We happened to have all of the healthy ingredients in our cupboard from making granola so we figured why not? It's Sunday morning and we want our fancy breakfast!

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees with the rack in the top 1/3. Line one baking sheet with parchment paper.Whisk together the agave nectar, almond extract and milk in a small cup, and set aside.Combine the flour, oats, almonds, flax, wheat germ, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.Using a food processor, cut the butter into the flour mixture, pulsing until it appears sandy (about 20 quick pulses). ( I just used a fork) Continue mixing until you have a good sandy texture.Add the agave/milk mixture. Mix until the dough comes together. Be careful to avoid overmixing. You can add a little more milk if the dough is too dry.

Gently fold in the strawberries with your hands. The dough will be very crumbly, this is ok!

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface or a piece of parchment paper, kneed once or twice, if necessary to bring the dough together. Press in any strawberries that may have fallen out. Be gentle with the dough and avoid over working it.

Press the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle or circle. (I did two circles, for smaller scones) Cut into even sized pieces. Place the pieces on the prepared baking sheet with at least 1/2 inch between each scone. Brush the tops with the beaten egg and sprinkle with oats.

So it's Sunday morning, we just woke up, and there is a half zested lemon sitting in the fridge just waiting to be finished off. You know what that means. Lemon poppy seed pancakes! We also just happened to have some leftover buttermilk from making buttermilk biscuits the day before, which gave me the perfect opportunity to try out this new recipe!

Jordan and I love having a nice "fancy" breakfast on Sunday mornings. Fancy of course meaning not cereal or toast. These pancakes are perfectly sweet, tart, and crisp all in one (crisp from frying them in butter). The poppy seeds also add a perfect crunch to the pancake. My husband says it's kind of like pop rocks in a pancake! Except not really. You'll find out for yourself once you make them. Go ahead and add these pancakes to your breakfast rotation, you won't be disappointed.

In a small bowl combine granulated sugar and lemon zest. Rub together with your fingers until sugar is fragrant. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the lemon sugar. Set aside.

In a separate bowl (or you can use a large liquid measuring cup), whisk together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients all at once into the dry ingredients. Add the poppy seeds and stir to combine. If a few lumps remain, that’s no problem. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes while the griddle heats.

Place a griddle, or a nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Add a bit of butter, shortening, or vegetable oil to the pan. A teaspoon of fat will do for a n0nstick saute pan, a bit more fat may be necessary for a griddle. Dollop batter onto hot pan. For small pancakes, use about 2 tablespoons for each pancake. For larger pancakes, use about 1/4 cup of batter. Cook until golden brown on the bottom and and bubbling on top. Flip once and cook until golden brown on each side.

Place cooked pancakes on an oven-proof plate and place in a warm (about 150 degrees F) oven until all pancakes are cooked and ready to serve. Serve with butter and warm maple syrup.

I found this recipe a few years ago and it's the only recipe I use for blueberry muffins now! It has a delicious cinnamon crumble top that really completes the whole muffin. Feel free to throw in extra blueberries if you'd like!

Ohhhh man this pancake is a lil' slice of heaven! I tried this recipe the first time this past Valentine's Day and we automatically fell in love with it.. It filled the kitchen with sweet smells of baked fruit and nothing is better than that. We almost ate the whole thing in one sitting! As beautiful as this pancake is, it is also extremely easy to make. If you just have 30 minutes for breakfast that is all you need. Quick breakfasts don't always have to mean toast or cereal. Just whip up the batter, throw it in the oven, and voila!

Directions:1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.2. Use a blender or hand mixer to combine the eggs, milk, flour, sugar, lemon zest and salt. 3. Heat a 12-inch cast iron skillet over high heat on the stove. Add the butter and melt. Pour the batter into the skillet, then scatter the berries on top. Put the pan in the oven, and bake until puffed and cooked through, about 20 minutes. Slive and serve, topped with powdered sugar, syrup and/or freshly whipped cream, as desired.

This granola is honestly the best granola I have ever had. My amazing mother-in-law shared the recipe with me and I can't wait for you to try it! If you're new to the super healthy world like I am, the ingredients can be a little hard to find, so just ask a store employee for help. Add this to greek yogurt and fruit and you have got yourself a very fulfilling snack.

Spread out onto two lined baking sheets, and bake at 300 degrees for 30-45 minutes, until oats are browned and crispy. Make sure to rotate the pans and give them a few good shakes during the baking process.

Author

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by! I'm Chrissy, a southern girl from North Carolina, recent college graduate, dental assistant, wife, mother, and a new lover of all things food. There was a time when I was just a "plain noodles" kind of girl, but since taking up cooking I have come leaps and bounds and I am continuously expanding my picky palate through experimentation in the kitchen. I am excited to share with you my favorite recipes that I discover on this food journey of mine.